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WIMPS SIGN TO KILL ROCK STARS!

July 01, 2015

Great news! Seattle, WA punk band Wimps have joined the Kill Rock Stars family and will be releasing their Super Me EP on August 7th on cassette and MP3. Wimps previous releases, Repeat, Party at the Wrong Time, and Couches, in addition to their highly entertaining live show, have made them a favorite in the NW DIY circuit for the past few years. Somehow, the new songs are even better!

KINSKI PREMIERE NEW SONG "BULLETIN OF THE INTERNATIONAL STRING FIGURE ASSOCIATION"

May 26, 2015

Kinski are thrilled to share the second single from their upcoming album 7 (or 8), their latest LP due out on Kill Rock Stars this June 2nd. Where first single “Flight Risk” was a blistering homage to 1969 Detroit, “Bulletin…” marries the riff-centric mentality of latter-era Kinski with the more spacious compositions they’re known for, resulting in 12 minutes of guitar and string-crescendo perfection, and serving as one of the highlights of 7 (or 8). The band has also recently announced a string of Northwest tour dates (see below) and will be hitting the rest of the nation and Europe later this summer. Stay tuned for more!

For a band whose extensive discography has historically been primarily instrumental and prone to modifying adjectives like “post-“ and “space-“, the last couple of years have been a left turn down a twisted alley of fuzz pedals, blown tube amps, and a kind of raw power befitting of the Stooges. 7 (or 8) finds Kinski sounding heavier, faster, and even more self-assured, picking up where Cosy Moments left off but also pushing their sound into even more singular territory.
7 (or 8), the title itself a wry observation echoing the confusion created by their extensive catalog, is in fact their SEVENTH (or eighth depending who you ask) LP and second for new label home Kill Rock Stars, having previously released several LPs on Sub Pop and other discerning independent labels. Recorded and mixed in San Francisco at El Studio with Phil Manley (of Trans Am), 7 (or 8) comes in the midst of a more prolific period for the band. “It always takes us awhile to write a record but this one came quickly. We’ve stopped worrying about it so much and just get on with it, which is easier on the soul,” says guitarist/singer Chris Martin. This mindset, alongside their newfound lyricism, has revealed a band that is slyly self-aware, hinted at through years of tongue-in-cheek song titles but now fully evident. The quicker pace has also instilled a palpable confidence and energy on record.
That being said,7 (or 8) hits like a ton of bricks. The double helping of riffs in the form of “Detroit Trickle Down” and “Flight Risk” leave the listener nearly out of breath. Martin, Lucy Atkinson (Bass), Matthew Reid-Schwartz (Guitar), and Barrett Wilke (Drums) stretch out a bit over the course of the record, marrying their more expansive sound with proto-punk fury, but they rarely let up until the last song, album highlight “Bulletin of the International String Figure Association”. One of the last songs written for the record, “Bulletin…” eases into a nearly 12 minute crescendo of rock bliss, gently flirts with a string section at the same time, and then floats back down to Earth in a perfect denouement. Like John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands on the cover, Kinski strive to make art that is uncompromising and on their own terms and 7 (or 8) is a refreshing reminder that rock music in 2015 can still be a unique and cathartic experience.